lone wolfdog
by diesel weasel
Summary: Part 2 balto is now two years old and ready to take on whatever the world is going to throw at him
1. Heather

**This is my second story in my Balto series before the movie. I also cannot improve my writing style unless I get FEEDBACK; to make it easier you can put it with your review, kill two birds with one stone R&R.**

The year was 1924; in Alaska spring time for a certain town near the coast can be very cold, especially at night. The night was black, not the kind of black that you find in a dark room, no picture be it paint of photo could every give this kind of blackness this darkness justice; this was the type of black, dark nights that could make your head dizzy. And to look up at the night sky, to put it simply it would dumfound you, the dark colors the blues the whites, to see all those stars, those hundreds of thousands of stars, the milky way. And on top of all of this the spirits of the Aurora Borealis, you would simply drop to your knees eyes wide, jaw hung slack and maybe a little drool after staring for a minute or two.

A wolfdog was standing on a rooftop of Nome, all quiet, all the humans asleep in their beds and their dogs sleeping fat and happy next to their masters meant the streets were empty like most nights. The odd night in the week where a human or dog would walk the streets or alleys Balto would tail them from the rooftops like a ghost, after two years of intense training with Boris, Balto could hunt on his own, fight on his own, and get out of most situations by himself. This was the first month where Balto could start feel like he was more important, after all the training he went through for the past two years, Balto was now Nome's silent guardian, whether they wanted him at this point or not. In the past month no action had yet come up, though while still listening he was for the time being content where he was. Looking up to the heavens for anything and everything, his ancestors, his future, answers, anything.

Balto sighed and turned his attention from the sky above him to Nome's main street two stories below him. Being that Nome was a new town in Alaska the people had yet to put in street lamps for people to see at night. Usually people would use their house lights to navigate the streets of Nome at night, but at around two to three in the morning there were no lights on. But because of their night vision the dogs of Nome would sometimes stay up till late in the evening, because all of their people were asleep it made perfect get togethers at places like the boiler room or the old mill. Every now and then dates would generally happen late at night and the two dogs would spend most of their night staring up at the Aurora Borealis.

Then the sound of wet spring snow being crushed under someone's feet/paws filled his ears, Balto then started running from roof top to roof top trying to find who was out and about. Balto was going to make sure that whoever was going out this late at night was going to stay out of trouble, or never find it. The first time he had traveled though the town of Nome by roof top he was only a month old pup and being that small he couldn't make higher or longer jumps like he could now, also Balto now knew the whole layout of the town of Nome, every street, alley and dead end.

When Balto had reached the end of the street he found it was only one of the local dogs of Nome, she is a smaller husky around Balto's age by the name of Heather, chances are she and some of her friends were hanging out in the old mill, while she enjoyed her friends company she quickly got bored of all the small talk that went on and decided to turn in early. She was on the other side of the street from Balto and continued to walk back to her home, in the past she had heard of Balto, she had heard of a bloodthirsty wolfdog who lived on the outskirts of Nome, after he was found in Nome twice as a pup the people and dogs of Nome had hardly ever seen hide or hair of the wolfdog. Sometimes they would see his figure returning to the beached boat in the predawn of morning, on an odd occasion people would see a shadow move on the roof top, and even sometimes a pair of glowing yellow eyes coming from a dark alley way.

To tell the truth the rouge wolfdog was a real thing of mystery, even though as unpopular as he was his reputation was starting to rival the lead sled dogs of Nome, including Nome's star protégé Steele. The fact an outcast like Balto could rival his reputation irked the future lead dog to no end. Surprisingly enough, not to Balto's knowledge, he had sort of a small fan club, it is made up of young female dogs who like the shadowy and mysterious kind as well as they kind that figured they wanted to with as little commitment as possible 'take a ride on the wild side'. Heather herself was more or less one of these dogs, and she also more or less wanted to get to know Balto more _personally._

Heather decided to take a short cut back to her home by the alley, and once she was in Balto leapt down from his hiding place from the rooftop and crossed the street. If there had been a casual on looker they would say a shadow leapt off the roof, crossed the street then quickly climbed up a crate onto another roof top like a bat out of hell.

As Heather continued her way through the alley way she had a sinking feeling someone was following her, she could almost feel someone's eyes boring holes in the back of her skull. She stopped abruptly and turned around and took a big whiff, she smelled a hint of husky odor that wasn't hers. "Alright" she said "I can smell you back there, now what do you want?" then behind a crate come a lean looking husky, he had all black fur and emerald green eyes. "What do you want Tony?" Heather asked, suddenly she was disturbed, when he had stepped out so had another odor, the smell of human's whiskey, and judging from the fog in his usually sharp eyes she guessed he had gotten into his fair share of whiskey.

"Oh, you know what I want" he said darkly with a hint of mischief, the cloudy look in his eyes had turned to show a new emotion, lust. "DON'T YOU DARE" Heather growled, she bared her white sharp teeth, but her teeth were nowhere near as intimidating as a sled dog's growl or a wolf's growl. And being Tony was a sled dog, and had been in more than a few fights in his life, Heather had a sinking feeling he was about to get what he wanted, no matter how much she struggled, she considered calling for help but she would only have two seconds and it could take them minutes to find her, by time they got there, the deed would be done and Tony would be long gone.

She was about to call out for help when a dark shadow of a canine came crashing from the roof and put himself right in between Heather and the drunk Tony, fur bristled and great canines bared, ready for battle. An instinct popped to Tony whom he could not explain, probably due to his intoxication and he was running more by instinct that actual thought process by now, his next instinct was to beat the challenging dog into a bloody pulp for ruining his fun. The two were then fighting with brutal ferocity going for each other's necks. The fearful primal growls that came from each other's throats could make any mammal pause in mid step to watch the scene unfold. But after the first few seconds of rage for Tony cooled down after the first few seconds of fighting when he realized something. He was not hitting anything.

Balto was all over the place, backing from attacks, side stepping with speed the eye had a hard time keeping up with, he would dart in for a quick bit on the shoulder or on the leg then just as quick as he attacked he drew back, Balto was as fast as a lynx and with a hit accuracy of one hundred percent. After twenty seconds of battle Tony hesitated for a brief moment and Balto rushed in at his throat and started tearing at it. After five seconds when it was clear he had enough Balto used his forehead to ram into Tony's chest and pinned him against the wall of the house.

Tony looked in shear horror at the glowing yellow eyes with dark brown eyes, it was not rage or adrenaline that had driven Balto to win that fight, Tony realized he managed to beat him with a cool head in twenty five seconds or less. If he managed to make Balto go into a rage his death warrant would be signed and sealed. Balto stared into Tony's now sober _soul_ with utter pity and disgust and said in a low clear threating voice. "_Leave"_ Tony slowly nodded feeling like this was only a slap on the wrists in Balto's book and limped off as quickly as he could.

Heather watched to whole thing with one thought on her mind 'he rescued me!' when Balto had caught his breath he looked at her making sure she was fine and she gasped at what she saw now that he was still. He was average height for a husky, with long hard and lean muscles, he had several bloody spots covering his body and there was a huge gash on his shoulder, he looked at her and she was surprised to see the glow in his eyes slowly dimming. "you should go home now" Balto stated and started to limp off, when he was out of sight for a few seconds Heather decided to do the craziest thing yet to date, she followed him


	2. Walk home

**A/N: in this story you are reading NOW: Balto is a little younger than two years old so he would be 17 or 18 in human years, and this is about one year before the movie Balto. I assumed Balto was a little younger than three years old before the movie putting him around the human age of 23-24, that seemed about right.**

Even though the night was by now half over he decided to start limping home, he could not help anyone else out tonight if the situation called for it, he decided in the past month now this was the first time he was needed he reasoned twice in one night seemed unrealistic and would end up being a waste of his time.

Tony sure can bit hard. Balto thought to himself as he continued limping on. "Stop following me" Balto said in a low hard voice, he had heard Heathers footsteps behind him; he really wasn't surprised she had followed him.

"You're hurt" Heather stated, really wanting to be helpful to her rescuer and for lack of better word crush.

"It's no big deal, I will be fine" Balto said through gritted teeth because of the massive pain on his shoulders were like fire.

"You got hurt really badly trying to save me, I'm only trying to help" she said softly and sincerely.

"Well just what do you plan on doing? Lick them? I need to get out of here" Balto said in the middle of the street.

Balto continued limping his way across the street and decided to take a short cut through the nearby alley, no sooner had Balto turned across the first corner Heather pounced on him, pinning his lean figure to the ground and started to lick his wounds clean.

"What are you doing?" Balto said, if he hadn't just been in a fight he could've shook her off but now he was finding it more difficult.

"Look Mr. noble hero, if someone doesn't clean these wounds soon they could get infected. I just don't want you to die now is that alright?" Heather said in a tone of voice that Balto found somewhat humbling, this was the first dog who wasn't a pup who was willing to HELP him.

"Alright but let's make it quick, if I don't get out of Nome before the sun rises I won't have to worry about infections." Balto said. He laid his head down and let her resume her work and she heard him mumble "damn girl". She rolled her eyes and mumbled in return "stubborn ass boy".

When she finished Balto got back up and said to her "thanks for your help but I can make it back home now, you should also head back home yourself." Heather was about to argue but there was something in his eyes that made her relent. They bade each other goodnight and went on their separate ways, though Heather had not gone more than ten feet when she decided she would check up on him the first chance she got.

Just as Balto reached the edge of Nome and the great field that separated Nome from his Nome the last house he passed lights turned on. Balto quickly darted into the darkest part of the alley and none too soon. The human let his dog out and shut the door.

Steele was ready to go, he knew there was little time left before the snow melted and this years sled dog mail run season would be over. Though Steele was not a lead dog yet it was only a matter of time, by next year he would be strong enough to take Brian the current lead dog down. He was about to take a leak before he got his breakfast then harnessed up and left when he saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes coming from the alley.

Steel chuckled evilly as he walked toward the wolfdog. Balto was hidden by the shadows of the alley and Steele couldn't tell he was bleeding. "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite wolf BINGO". Balto stopped to hide his limp and said in a very low and dark voice, "Alright Steele what do you want?"

"Oh me? Well I was just wondering what a wolf would be doing in town, and in the middle of the night, getting into trouble are we?" Steele said in a mock voice. "We have been over this before; I am as much dog as wolf. I can belong here just as much as you".

"Nothing with wolf blood can belong anywhere but the woods or on a wall, and as a dog of Nome I have to kill you now or chase you out, which will it be?"

Balto just stared at him, Steele in the attack position was curious at first but then he felt a little hypnotized by the wolfdogs eyes. After a minute Baltos pupils disappeared and the wolfdogs whole eyes where a golden yellow and glowed brighter than Steele had ever seen before. The strange thing was Steele felt paralyzed, like he could move, he couldn't get away, he couldn't _look_ away. Then Steele blinked and Balto wasn't there, being able to move again he turned his head and saw Balto's tracks leading out of Nome to his boat.

It had been just predawn when his owner had let him out what felt like only a minute ago but when he saw the sun was no longer even touching the horizon he realized he had been standing there for over an hour and his musher had already brought out the sled and started to harness dogs.

Balto had limped back onto the boat and was happy to see that Boris was sound asleep. After Balto's training Balto had noticed that Boris was becoming less active borderline lazy. Balto had lowered his head and with his teeth he picked up his rugged wool blanket that was in tatters and threw it over his throbbing shoulders and settled down for some rest.


	3. Fire

**Don't own Balto, wish I did, but I don't**

Had been a week since the fight with Tony and Balto was now back to sitting on top of one of the highest buildings in Nome, overlooking the main street. The moonlight had lit up the town so Balto had no trouble seeing, compared to some winter nights this was high definition for the wolfdog. His wounds from the fight didn't get infected for which he was thankful for. The fight had been playing over and over in his head for over a week now, this was the first time he had saved someone. Can only go uphill from here Balto mused.

For him the most interesting thing that happened during that whole adventure was Heather, truth be told he had expected her to flee from the fight during the first chance she got, to his dismay she didn't even leave when the fight was finished. He shook his head happily as he remembered how the stubborn husky had pinned him to the ground refusing to let him up until she helped him in return. Perhaps he thought that he could now consider her a friend? No, he thought, she was just thanking him for saving her. Chances are from now on she would pretend the whole thing didn't happen. Chances are people are going to be asking Tony who dealt him all of those wounds but chances are he would sooner claim he was trying to rape Heather while drunk on human whiskey than admit he got his ass handed to him by a lean wolfdog.

To be honest he decided that the number of canine friends he had was back to zero, for a long while he had considered if Jenna would belong on his list of friends but he decided against it, they were still pups at the time and the chances she remembered that conversation was slim to none. But he had made her a promise and his mother's teachings still ringed in his skull. "A wolf never breaks his or her promise, even if it means you must do the most embarrassing thing in this world, even if it means death, even if the person you promised to has long forgotten you are honor bound to fulfill your promises." Balto shook his head yet again, how awkward would it be for Jenna as of now if he fulfilled his promise, but it was no matter, he still had the goal of being an ambassador for two races, the reason he made the promise to Jenna was because he could do both at the same time.

Balto had wondered what had become of Yellow Eyes in recent years, as the only wolfdog ambassador in the area that he knew of Balto seriously hoped that for everyone's sake that he still lived if the reason relations between wolves and dogs were as good as they were now if because if himself alone.

Then in mid thought something had changed, at first he couldn't tell what then he realized a new smell had entered his nostrils. Wood smoke and a lot of it. He turned his head to the east part of town, there was a glow there but not of the light yellow predawn sun that would rise in a few hours, this was a dark orange color that reflected heavily off the black smoke it was churning out at a fast pace. A house was on fire.

Balto leapt from his spot to help out in any way he could, if not he would stick to the shadows. The people of Nome where quick to act, as soon as the flames could be seen from the outside the humans living there were out within thirty seconds well as their two dogs and their pups. Within two minutes of the fire a dozen people had formed a bucket brigade and were pump buckets of water from the house across the street to the burning house. Children who were too young to be of help in this aspect were throwing wet clumps of snow at any open fire they saw within throwing range.

A couple of local dogs of Nome were near the fray too, feeling helpless as Jenna watched Rosy's father help man the bucket brigade, now that the fire had been alive for more than five minutes the bucket brigade went from a dozen members to almost thirty and as people came pouring in people were starting to form another line to another nearby house.

Balto was sitting in the shadows in the alleyway in the street across from the burning house. The humans were in a frenzy of action like an anthill that just got kicked. Few people comforted the mother of the home as well as their young child, but the vast majority of the other people present were working with a will to put out the fire which had by now only gotten larger. The two dogs who had gotten out were now doing a head count of their pups. Suddenly the wolfdog saw the father become as stiff as a board and the mothers blood left her face as she turned suddenly and stared at the flames in shock.

On instinct Balto leapt into action crossing the street like a bat out of hell and passed by several startled humans, the dog family as well as Jenna, but even though the mere thought of her usually pushed back all other thoughts and seeing her generally sent him into a stupor, she was the last thing on his mind as he pushed himself against the thin glass window and was now in the inferno.

This was Balto's definition of hell so far and had yet to find its equal, there was fire surrounding him from all sides, the roar of the fire was deafening his ears, the smell of burning wood smoke over whelmed his senses and the smoke made his eyes burn and water. But Balto pushed his discomfort aside as he pushed himself to search the house he found nothing in the living room he was in and quickly searched the kitchen to find nothing but only more fire. He found no signs of and entrance to a basement so he assumed that their either wasn't one or if there was there wouldn't be a fire down there, he found a staircase leading upstairs and he pushed himself up.

At the top of the staircase there was a room with the door slightly open, he found it was the parent's room but even as hard as he looked he couldn't find the missing pup. The flames were getting more intense and if he didn't find the pup soon he would have to bail out empty handed. Then he hears a crash as rafters in the hall behind him came crashing down and he heard something groan in pain. A he turned he spotted his target, the pup laid still under the bunch of burning rafters that weighed him down.

Balto rushed to the pup and the dazed pup looked at him with life flickering out of his eyes then the exhausted thing hit the wood floor unconscious. Noticing small gap between him and the board Balto squeezed his head in, using his whole shoulders and most of his remaining strength Balto pushed the fallen burning rafters of himself and the pup. He took a deep breath to regain even a hint of strength but it did little good as he was also inhaling some of the smoke in a great volume and Balto coughed furiously. Knowing unless he mustered the strength to get them out it would get alto worst before it got better Balto using his mouth grabbed the pup by the scruff of his neck and ran back downstairs.

Despite the humans best efforts the fire downstairs had only gotten worst and Balto's strength was waning at an alarming pace, more rafters had fallen blocking his exit via the main entrance and right under all of the windows were cloth furniture that were lit up like a bonfire making that idea of escape unlikely without catching himself or the pup on fire. Balto ran into the kitchen and found the situation no better. The back door was locked and Balto doubted he could push through it and the windows were too high to jump out from. But then he realized that the house was made out of planking not logs and he found a spot where it wasn't burning and with his last reserves of strength he pushed through.

To say by now Jenna was worried by now would be an understatement. Oh she was when she was the fire at first, but when she saw Balto run in to rescue the pup had put her on razor edge. Knowing the mysterious wolfdog he wouldn't come out of the front entrance to expecting a hero's welcome, no he would take a back exit and leave the pup so it appeared he was never even there. She had patrolled the back alley by the kitchen where there were no fires in the windows hoping he would jump out any second now.

She was surprised when the wall planking in front of her exploded and a dark figure hit the neighboring wall with a meaty thud. Balto looked up tiredly at Jenna with the pup still dangling from his mouth, he was tired as one could tell by the way his body shook, he was covered from head to toe with soot and he had several burns in which spots of his fur was singed and gave off an orange glow in the dark night alley.

But when she saw his lively eyes she knew he was going to be alright then suddenly his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he blacked out from exertion. Jenna thought franticly on what to do, for the time being she decided she needed to get the pup back to his family while at the same time she needed to make sure Balto wasn't found. She drug Balto behind some nearby crates and she picked up the blacked out pup and returned her to her family who were joyous to say the least, when she was sure the pup was safe she turned back to the alley to give the wolfdog her undivided attention, blacked out or not.


	4. Jenna's thoughts

**Don't own Balto, wish I did, but I don't**

**Jenna POV**

As Jenna rounded the corner she looked for the wolfdog she stashed behind the crates, he was still lying down breathing steadily. Truth be told she didn't quite know what to make out of this mysterious figure. When she first met him she took a bit of a shine to him part wolf or not, once she found out she logically reasoned that if wolves were killers with fur she and her siblings would be long dead, but what made her very interested in him was he was different. He was about the size of an average dog (not that she knew how big a wolf was in comparison) and he had brown/gray fur like most wolves but also like some dogs. What set him apart from normal dogs were those yellow eyes and big wolf paws, the fact that he was kind of cute in his own way may have helped his cause.

Once she was hell bound to get to know him better, to get to be a part in his lonely existence, and he seemed to want to be friends with her as well. But living on the edge of Nome coming out only at night, not one hint of communication, she was beginning to think he had all but given up on her, much to her bitter disappointment. She had begun to tell herself that she wasn't what he needed, after two years without any canine contact he didn't just need a friend anymore, he would need a soul mate if his mind was still sane up to this point, and Balto may or may not have known this but he had about a dozen to choose from.

She had seen his 'fans' talk about him in secret, now that one of these girl who goes by Heather had actually been saved by him, she was immediately interrogated for every detail of information she could give up, while she couldn't dig up much on his back ground, just his physical details were enough to give them all dreamy eyes for the rest of the day.

But now she could get close and personal to the sleeping wolfdog. She first saw that he was average size, about the same as hers but he was different from most dogs, his head was a bit flat with his muzzle being slightly larger and fairly narrow, he had thick eyebrows, his neck was less bulky than hers but his chest was a bit larger, and his legs were lean but she could tell he had real power in them, as well as a scruffy tail as opposed to a curled one, all in all he was more lean and hard than bulky and she blushed when she realized she was just fine with that, a fair portion of his fur had been singed by the fire and by now had stopped glowing a deep shade of orange, the rest of his fur was covered by a fine layer of soot.

While she poked his side with her nose to see how easily the soot would come off she found his fur to be surprisingly soft, she suddenly had fight off her instincts which were telling her to rub her head against his neck. Then she had to fight off the urgings to rub her whole body next to his shoulders to just _feel_ how hard all those lean muscles really were. She realized she has never been this _attracted_ to another being before then she looked at his build again this time to admire it and she found herself blushing fiercely.

She checked both ends of the alley to make sure no one was looking and she moved so she was side by side with him and lay down next to him convincing herself it was simply an innocent gesture. suddenly after waking up in the middle of the night and have your adreniline pumping then slow to a halt in a half an hour time span Jenna found herself drowsy and found no harm in sleeping by him waiting for him to wake up. If one were to pass by they would see a dark wolfdog and a husky sleeping side by side smiling.

**A/N: I am back! due to the fact i have to now work and sleep and have no internet on weekends next chapter update monday morning! now that i made this chapter slightly less fluffy i think my writers block is over! REVIEW OR _ELSE_**


	5. a new day

Balto felt sore all over, first he had gotten several scrapes and cuts from the fight but as soon as they started to heal he had gone around using his body as a battering ram inside a house that was on fire. 'Why would I do something like that?' he thought to himself then the rest of his memories came flooding back as he remembered the pup he was searching for and carried out.

'THE PUP! Where is he? I have to get him back before they lose all hope and start crying their eyes out.' He started to rise but up to this point he hadn't opened his eyes but he felt a warm and bright sensation on his eyelids, one he usually slept through to take much notice in. 'Great balls of fur its sunup! Screw it the pup can find his own way back home where ever it is now I have to get to my home NOW.

His eyes fluttered open and from what he took in it was after eight but before ten in the morning. He was about to brace his tormented body for a hard mad dash in the shadows all the way back home when he felt something ON him. He stopped his body which was now taunt in anticipation to whatever this was and he slowly turned his head and what he saw made his jaw drop.

Jenna was right there, snuggled up to his flank like she thought she BELONGED there with a comfortable look on her face. All conscious thought in Baltos mind near slowed to a stop but his ears could pick up their breaths were in synch and through his body he could feel their heart beats were as well. Balto felt a lump form in the back of his throat; as much as this dismayed him and as much as he liked it he knew it would stop some time so no time like the present.

He started to slip from the slumbering form as slowly and as softly as he could, for perhaps the first time in his life Balto wished his fur was as soft as a cloud so Jenna couldn't feel him moving, but considering his life style he knew chances of that being true were slim to none.

It took a little bit but soon he had slipped his body away from Jenna and as carefully as he could he tried to set her back down softly in the warm snow they had been sleeping on. When she looked like she was comfortable enough to not wake up for some time Balto let lose a quiet sigh of relief and set out on his way. As he left dozen of questions formed in his mind. 'What was that all about? Why would she use me as a pillow? Where is the pup?' he took one step forward and his paw plunged into a deep bank of spring snow he would normally avoid and the squishing sound of the wet snow made Balto's muscles tense.

If Balto ever thought fate hade a sense of humor he did now as he heard Jenna wake up at the sound. Her head popped up at the sudden sound but her eyes were still droopy as she searched and took in her surroundings. Before Balto had any thoughts on hiding Jenna's eyes locked onto his frozen figure.

"Well good morning." Jenna said in a nice manner.

Balto thought franticly. 'What do I do? What do I say? Do I say good morning back? Do I thank her? Do I ask her about the pup? I need more time to think before I can talk, but what do I do to stall for time? How much time do I need? I guess I have not talked to another dog in a conversation in some time now so I assume a lot of time. But for now what to say?'

"I got to go." Balto said making quick eye contact with Jenna and left at a near run back home.

"'I got to go?' that's all I get? I don't think so." And with that Jenna took off in hot pursuit of Balto.

**There is more I was going to type up but I will either make it another chapter or add it some other time, my writers block is over! Drinks all around! Also made the last chapters less fluffy so read and review that as well. NOW REVIEW, OR **_**ELSE**_


	6. Chapter 6

Balto's shoulder was on fire because of the pain but he ignored it and pressed on 'bad this is bad, what just happened? Calm down Balto you can figure it out later.'

Jenna was three seconds behind him going at a full run trying to catch up with him 'great I probrably just scared him away, but why is he running away like he is afraid of me? He jumped into a burning building for heavens sake.'

"please stop I want to talk with you" jenna yelled

Balto heisted for a second and by doing this he did something he didn't normaly do, he humored her and stop and he turned his head to hear her, willing to listen to her question.

Jenna was a bit out of breath because she never has had to run on a regular basis but she quickly regained her breath and continued.

"what were you doing last night? You jumped into that burning building and had me worried sick."

Balto was a bit taken back because it had been a while now scince another canine cared for his safety. Due to his shyness and unused to social interaction with anyone much less a girl his age he said in a low shy voice "I saw everything from the rooftop, when the parents of those pups started to get nervous I knew something had gone wrong, it would have taken time to get a search group, time that pup didn't have, I was decicive and started looking myself.'

Jenna thought back about last night and based on what she had seen she had to agree with his decision. But she wasn't finished with the wolfdog yet so she put herself between him and his way home, though she knew even though weak he could push past her if he wanted to.

"I just have one more question, why you? They were not your friends or your family, why risk your life for them?"

"Because of everyone present my life was least important. I have no owner to miss me, no family to feed, no lover to mourn if I pass. I only have a few friends and they are misfits and outcasts like me. Deep down they know real greif and they will move on with their lives quickly enough. That is the reason I decided to risk my life for that pup."

Jennas jaw hung slack in her closed mouth at his explaination, the whole time she had been looking into his hazel eyes and while she could see the truth in his eyes at the same time she couldn't help but be awed in the determination in his eyes that his voice couln't back up. She thought about what he said and deep down she felt pity for the poor wolfdog.

"more people would miss you than you think Balto" Jenna said but she decided not to tell him of his 'fan girls' as few as they were assuming he didn't know. Though thruthfuly she didn't know why she wanted to hold back that piece of information.

She was soon heartened to see a weak smile come across Balto's face and he said "thank you Jenna, it is nice to know someone cares."

"oh you can bet more than me cares' she thought to herself as she remembered the dreamy look in heathers eyes the night after Balto saved her.

As Balto started to limp back to his home she couldn't help but ask "wait Balto how will you get food while injured?"

"I will hunt small game as usual." He replied

He looked away when he said it so she knew he was lieing so he wouldn't upset her. 'well damn it all if I would let a good wolfdog starve' she thought as she went back to her own home.

**NOW REVIEW, OR **_**ELSE**_


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